SolidAnim Unveils SolidTrack, New Partnership

PARIS – SolidAnim, known for its development of on-set virtual tracking equipment and visualization software, has introduced the latest version of its SolidTrack solution for the film and broadcast industries, in addition to announcing its technological partnership with the real-time virtual production company Encodacam and SolidAnim’s division SolidTrack.

The longstanding relationship of SolidAnim and Encodacam resulted from a common passion of the cinema and a real desire to provide innovative and creative solutions for cinema production. SolidTrack’s and Encodacam’s technology has been utilized in films such asI Robot, Speed Racer, Wolverine, Alice in Wonderland, Hugo, Oz the Great and Powerful, and
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.The companies join their expertise and technology in shared offices based in El Segundo, California, to provide customers with a complete and innovative production service.

SolidTrack brings a revolutionary approach providing a more ergonomic and intuitive solution dedicated to camera tracking and visualization of complex VFX shots, dealing with greenscreen compositing, 3D rendering, and complex camera moves. Producers achieve greater control of VFX budgets and timescales, minimizing wastage and ensuring efficient delivery, from previz to the final movie or television show. Comparing to traditional shooting methods producers save approximately 30% time on a film or television show utilizing SolidTrack.

SolidAnim SolidTrack was used successfully on Da Vinci’s Demons in 2012 and is currently being used by
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (2014).

SolidTrack is an innovative real-time markerless tracking and previz solution for recording camera moves and data logging of camera moves on the virtual set. It allows the tracking of all camera types as well as the overview of special effects in real time while shooting. SolidTrack captures in real time the position and orientation of the film camera, including intrinsic parameters such as variable focal lenses (zoom).

SolidTrack is highly mobile and can be set up quickly (15 minutes) whether indoors or outdoors, and tracks instantly on any new setup. The light solution comprises one cable and one survey camera weighing less than 150g (close to 1 lb). SolidTrack does not need any visible markers when shooting, even on a greenscreen, and is compatible with additional external information such as encoders and gyros. "On set" tracking of SolidTrack can be exported in FBX format for helping the final post-production camera tracking.

In today's cost-sensitive production marketplace, it has become crucial to both keep production costs down and speed up the finishing of visual effects-heavy shows. Filmmakers and television producers have found that they need to use a variety of tools and techniques to provide reliable and accurate camera tracking data for use in both real-time compositing and post processed visual effects shots.

Until now they had to wait for postproduction to finish in order to view completed visual effects shots, or build expensive and complex custom solutions requiring teams of experts in order to see the combination of live action and computer generated backgrounds while shooting. To satisfy this need SolidAnim created SolidTrack to provide an affordable solution for the tracking and visualization of complex VFX shots, including greenscreen compositing, 3D rendering, and complex camera moves.

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